1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to cooking grills and in particular to an insertable rapid-starting smoker for all types of grills to smoke the food wherein the smoker also prevents flare ups of the fire and creates two cooking zones.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Smoking food using wood chips imparts a particularly appealing taste to meat and other food that is desired by many people. Liquids containing smoke flavored chemicals are available, but do not always simulate true smoked flavor and likely contain chemicals that are unhealthy.
Barbecue grills present an excellent opportunity for smoking food since they are generally used in an outdoor environment where the smoke is not a problem. Properly vented indoor grills and broilers also may utilize smoking to supplement the cooking process and impart a smoked flavor to the food.
Slow smoking methods take a long time to prepare the food and expose the environment to smoke for a much longer time.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,140,049, issued Feb. 20, 1979 to Stewart, shows a method and apparatus for converting an enclosable food cooker having a food supporting surface into a food smoker which can be advantageously used to smoke food at a very slow rate without significant dehydration or loss of natural juices.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,029,567, issued Feb. 29, 2000 to Tirkkonen, claims a manufactured article for releasing smoke in conjunction with preparation of smoked food, the article comprising an outer shell (1) having at least one hole (2) made thereto, and a material (3) with heat-reacting and smoke-generating properties (3) placed inside the outer shell. According to the invention the article incorporates a heat-generating material (4) placed in the immediate vicinity of the smoke-releasing material (3) for heating the smoke-releasing material.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,653,162, issued Aug. 5, 1997 to Lunde, describes a smoker grill having five major parts: 1) a cover, 2) a wire rack, 3) a base unit with four side walls and a divider, 4) a fire pot, and 5) a stand. Air inlet holes are located along the base of the sidewalls. A stainless steel divider is located above the air holes in the base unit. The divider separates the enclosure into an upper chamber where the food is smoked or grilled, and a lower chamber. The divider is sloped downward to a hole in the center that allows grease from the food to drip into the fire pot in the lower the chamber. The fuel in the fire pot is denatured alcohol. When smoking a food product, a wood product is placed on the divider and food is placed on the wire rack above the wood product. When using the device as a grill, a wood product is not used. A cover is provided over the unit to enclose the upper chamber. The fire from the fire pot in the lower chamber heats the stainless steel divider which smokes the wood product or grill the food product in the upper chamber. The smoke in the upper chamber is forced down four rectangular holes in the corners of the divider. The smoke in the lower chamber may be ignited from the burning alcohol to produce a secondary burning which gives an even heat over the whole unit.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,102,028, issued Aug. 15, 2000 to Schlosser, discloses a smoker attachment for heating and burning smoker particles in a barbecue grill. The smoker attachment includes a housing having a side wall, end wall, and bottom wall defining a cavity therein. The bottom wall of the housing has a plurality of openings and the side walls have a plurality of corresponding cutouts adjacent the bottom wall such that the cutouts in the side walls cooperate with the openings in the bottom wall. The openings provide access to the cavity of the housing such that a conductive member within the barbecue grill is able to contact the housing adjacent the opening to position the housing within the bottom chamber of the barbecue grill. The conductive member further passes through the opening of the housing into the cavity of the housing to define a portion of the perimeter of the cavity for directly contacting and heating the smoker particles within the housing.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,718,165, issued Feb. 17, 1998 to Winstead, indicates a grill intended for use in outdoor cooking. A burner assembly and a grid are enclosed in a housing that is arranged for even distribution of heat through the grid, and the grill is selectively usable to barbecue meat with or without wood flavoring or to steam meat and other food.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,770,157, issued Sep. 13, 1988 to Shepherd, puts forth a barbecue having, for example, a heat source in the form of a gas burner, is provided with a device which permits smoke flavoring of food cooked on the barbecue. Wood chips are contained in a drawer which is received by a complementary sleeve located between the heat source and a cooking grill of the barbecue. During cooking the wood chips are heated by the heat source and the air flow through the drawer is restricted so that the wood chips give off smoke without igniting. The smoke flows about and flavors the food being cooked on the barbecue. Access to the sleeve and the wood chip drawer may be gained through a side wall of the barbecue body and thus the supply of wood chips may be replenished without interfering with the cooking operation. Means is provided to control the volume of smoke produced by the device.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,721,037, issued Jan. 26, 1988 to Blosnich, concerns An apparatus for cooking foods which is a combination of an outdoor grill and an optional smoker attachment. The grill itself is of a type having a container with an open top, a closed bottom, front and rear sidewalls for holding heat-retaining lava rock. A hinged lid which is removable is attached to the grill for retaining heat within the container. A removable grate is selectively disposed inside of the container above the lava rock when the device is to be used as a grill for holding foods directly up above the lava rock and such grate is removable when the device is to be used for smoking foods. When the apparatus is to be used as a smoker, a metal cabinet having a rear wall, a pair of sidewalls connected to the rear wall, a removable front wall and a top wall is placed upon the container and has an open bottom so that the heat from the lava rock will be trapped within such metal cabinet. A tray is disposed just above the lava rock for holding wood chips which will generate smoke for flavoring the food being smoked. Slots on the rear wall of the metal cabinet and hooks on the sidewall are provided for holding the metal cabinet onto the grill in a proper position. A plurality of grates are positioned in an upper part of the metal cabinet for holding foods during the smoking process. An optional small door is provided in the front wall of the cabinet for inserting additional wood chips as might be necessary, without losing the majority of the smoke within the cabinet.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,786,741, issued Jan. 22, 1974 to Plumley, illustrates a smoking and cooking apparatus for use with outdoor grills employing a closed container with metal top and bottom and a perforated metal plate.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,697,506, issued Oct. 6, 1987 to Ducate, is for a substantially U-shaped or V-shaped tray for flavoring food by burning woodchips. The tray includes an elongated base and opposing sidewalls which may diverge outwardly from the base. Each of the sidewalls contain a plurality of apertures at spaced intervals along the length of the sidewall. The number, size and location of the apertures and the angle of any sidewall divergence are such that when the tray is positioned above and in close proximity to a heat source, the apertures permit sufficient direct heating of the woodchips to cause burning thereof by smoldering and the solid portions of the base and sidewalls shield the woodchips sufficiently to prevent flaming thereof.
U.S. Pat. No. Des. 283,588, issued Apr. 29, 1986 to Stuckey, shows a design for a meat smoking device having a holder for wood chips and a perforated cover.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,779,525, issued Oct. 25, 1988 to Gaines, provides a smoke producing device for use in a barbecue or the like comprising a smoke producing material, such as wood chips, enclosed in a noncombustible perforated container. The perforations are kept covered by a perforation cover until use so as to prevent leakage of the smoke producing materials from the container and to prevent the loss of moisture and volatile aromatic oils from the smoke producing material. This cover is preferably constructed of a combustible material so that when heated in a barbecue, it will ignite and burn off to expose the perforations, through which the smoke can then escape to flavor the food.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,048,406, issued Sep. 17, 1991 to Cofer, indicates a disposable/refillable smoke cartridge for gas barbecue grills in a single-unit, ready-to-use device for flavoring food by smoking on a barbecue grill using gas or other fuels. This invention is a small, convenient cartridge containing small pieces of one of the aromatic woods, such as Hickory or Mesquite, etc., or any combination thereof. The package can contain draft vent perforations to allow enough air to flow in to promote charring without allowing ignition, and smoke to flow directly out. In use, the package is placed directly on the gas-heated lava rocks, burning charcoal, or other fuel. The wood chips within the package quickly begin to char and emit smoke, thus flavoring the food placed within the gas grill enclosure. When the process is complete, the cooled package can be easily disposed of along with the other household refuse, or it can be saved for recycling. Multiple cartridges can be made available in multi-cartridge carriers and more than one cartridge can be used simultaneously or sequentially. The cartridges can be refilled, if desired, to a limited degree.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,019,035, issued Feb. 1, 2000 to Jonas, claims a food smoker for providing a smoky flavor to food. The food smoker includes an elongate cylinder having opposed open ends and an interior adapted for receiving wood chips. The cylinder has a plurality of rows of generally equally spaced apertures extending through it. The apertures are positioned in an upper ⅓ portion of the cylinder. A pair of end caps are detachably coupled to the ends of the cylinder.
While there have been many patents issued for devices used in smoking food, especially for barbecue grills, none of them use a double perforated container with a single layer of wood chips placed directly on the fire or heat source. This invention smokes the food at a faster rate during a specified cooking cycle and process, while serving also to prevent flare-ups by covering a portion of the fire. This is a highly adaptive device that can be used across all types of grills and broilers.
An object of the present invention is to provide a food smoker with a layer of wood chips sized from 0.5 through 1.25 inches and bottom perforations to ignite the wood chips very quickly so that the present invention produces smoke very quickly to provide a fast method of smoking food.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a food smoker that is easily adaptable to any grill or broiler. (Charcoal, Gas or electric-outdoor grill or indoor grill or boiler)
One more object of the present invention is to provide a food smoker with top and bottom perforated plates having the perforations offset between the top and the bottom for creating a good draft damper control and maximizing the smoke produced with in established time periods. The perforations could be shaped as round holes, squares or any other shape that can be cut or punched out in a die.
An additional object of the present invention is to provide a simple food smoker that is durable and easily manufactured by stamping or laser cutting two sheets of metal and bending the edges of the metal and closing one plate on the other for a fast starting food smoker that may be used over and over again by replenishing the wood chips. In fact the present invention has been configured for manufacturing such that it can be made completely using a multi station progressive stamping and forming die.
A further object of the present invention is to provide protruding handles on each side that may be easily accessed with a tool for installing and removing the smoker. These handles also aid in radiant heat mass and area coverage for prevention of grill flare or flame ups as well as acts as the support mechanism for some medium and small size grills.
A contributory object of the present invention is to make a hinged version of the invention adapted for use in commercial and domestic broilers and ovens.
An added object of the present invention is to provide larger holes in the bottom plate for rapid ignition of the wood chips.
An ensuing object of the present invention is to provide smaller holes or fewer holes in the top plate with offset holes to dampen air flow-through to maximize the smoke and control the burning process. An alternate design would be to have the same size holes in the bottom and the top and reduce the number of holes in the top compared to the bottom in order to increase smoking by slowing down the flow through of air and the burning and ignition process of the smoking.
In brief two mating high temperature stainless steel plates are cut with flanges that bend to create overlapping low side walls and handles protruding from the sides of the bottom plate. Larger perforations in the bottom plate allow rapid smoke generation with the smoker placed on a fire or heat source. Smaller holes in the top plate offset from the bottom holes permits the smoke to flow, controlling the flow of smoke out of the smoker into the cooking area. The bottom of the smoker preferred embodiment of the invention is to have indented formed feet or a ribbed structure to improve the performance to the smoker.
There are more holes in the bottom than the top to allow for controlled burning. The holes in the bottom allow the heat and/or flame to start the smoking process, faster. Off-setting the holes from the bottom to the top plate of the smoker, with a larger total perforated area in the bottom plate than the top plates controls the smoke flow out of the smoker during the process producing more smoke and producing it faster than other methods.
The double perforated smoker enables a fast smoking method and apparatus that controls the burning of the wood dry or wet between the two stainless steel plates. A single layer of wood chips between the closely spaced plates makes for fast efficient smoking. The steel plates are interlocking with the handles for easy of loading as well as increased area for radiated heat and area coverage relative to the grill surface. The smoker covers approximately xc2xd of the heat source or grilling surface area. The smoker will not allow flame up as the juice(s) drip on the top plate of the smoker and this adds to the flavor process. 
Using the smoker over a portion of the fire allows for a cooking method that includes placing the food over the grill area that is not covered by the smoker and then over the area of the grill that is covered by the smoker. This process allows the food to be seared on a hot side and cooked more slowly on the cooler side over the smoker. This process makes the meat more flavorful and also more tender. The side of the grill with the smoker is approximately 100-150 degrees F. different during the cooking and smoking cycle.
The smoker produces a heat curve within itself from cooler to hotter then cooler. The smoker also evens out the radiant heat-cooking concept over the grill area. This allows for more even cooking of the food over the smoker side. The smoker puts out real smoke taste in all woods: producing a very sweet apple taste using apple wood, and a barbecue flavor using hickory or mesquite woods for example.
Approximately 2-4 cups of 0.5-1.25 inch sized wood chips can be loaded into the smoker, as a single layer. The top of the smoker is configured in such a manner as to allow for irregular chip sizing and will expand to incorporate chip over 1.25 inches. The smoking time is 30-60 min for wet chips (soaked in water for a minimum of 10 minutes) and 15-40 minutes for dry chips. This is dependent on the density and type of chips that one uses. Reducing the amount of wood chips produces less smoke flavor. Smoking time would then be cut proportionally.
The method of the present invention comprises a preparatory step of burning off and cleaning the grill and grate to approximately 300 degrees to kill all bacteria. The first step is using the removing and installing tool to remove the grill and then install (place with the tool) the present invention so that the smoker is placed onto or into the heat source.
Then the next step is re-installing the grate and within a few minutes (with direct contact to flame) the invention will start smoking. The next step is placing the food on the grill grate for cooking and smoking. If the smoker is placed on a radiated heat source (defuser, heat deflector or exchanger) dependent on the type of model or type of grill, then it will take approximately 5-10 minutes to start the smoking process, and the same cooking and smoking process applies.
In the event that there is a need for more cooking or grilling time with the smoker. The smoker can be re-filled. The grate can be removed by inserting all three fingers of the tool between the openings in the grate and lifting the grate off of the grill. A large number of grills have two grates and removal of only one is necessary. The top cover of the smoker can then be removed by using the removing tool.
The removing and installing tool is a four in one tool. It will remove the grill grate, install the smoker using the handles with two prongs through a space between the handle and the side plate and a third prong through a hole in the handle, remove the top cover of the smoker to fill up the smoker with wood chips, and turn your steaks when used as a fork.
A modified embodiment of the smoker having a bottom with a hinge at one end and handle at the other may slide into an outdoor grill or indoor commercial grill that has been modified with a 2 inch slot (approximately) that has a hinged flap in the front wall of the grill. This will also work for commercial application such as in restaurants gas fired char-broiler or gas or electric broiler. An exhaust hood and hood cover are required for this process.
An advantage of the present invention is that it creates genuine smoked food with any type of cooking grill.
Another advantage of the present invention is that it produces smoke very quickly for tasty smoked flavor even with items that cook very quickly.
An additional advantage of the present invention is that it is easy and relatively inexpensive to manufacture and extremely easy to use.
One more advantage of the present invention is that it is very durable to produce and will operate for many years producing flavorful smoked cooking.
Yet another advantage of the present invention is that if the rapid smoker is positioned under the food it prevents flare-ups from the heating source onto the food, since it covers the heating source.
Another advantage of the design and operation of the present invention is the rapid smoker may be positioned under the food so that it is capable of receiving juices or spices from the food that drips onto the rapid smoker or are placed on it, and is capable of evaporating the juices or spices into flavoring the food further.
Still another advantage of the present invention is that it creates two cooking zones in the grill, one with the invention covering the heating source producing smoke and the other zone away from the invention, food can then be moved back and forth from one zone to another being seared and smoked this process makes the meat more flavorful and also more tender.